Submitting ePub/ebook for publishing on iBooks Store

Recently I successfully published a couple of ePubs on iBooks Store as free books. Second one took 15 minutes to submit. Yes only 15 minutes. However thats because I had spent 3-4 hrs in submitting first book and that experience helped me.

The steps are clearly illustrated with screenshots at: https://www.aquafadas.com/documentation/calenco/en/Publish_an_ePub/content/
However its easier said than done for the first timers so I suggest you go through above once and follow steps listed below to avoid common mistakes.

What all you need - A Checklist
Steps to submit book on iBook Store
  1. Validate the ePub
    So you have your to-be-bestseller book as ePub file with you (say one generated through iBooks Author, InDesign or QuarkXPress, the leading tools for creating rich and interactive ePubs). Though any application or tool must generate a well formed ePub, you still must check its validity yourself. You may validate an ePub through ePubCheck.
    If there are any errors in ePub validation, you must get them fixed before you can proceed to submit.
  2. Prepare Cover Image and screenshots
    Cover Image is compulsory and its recommended size is 1,600 pixels wide by 2,400 tall.
    It also has to be at least 1400 pixels in each dimension.
    Screenshots are optional, but advisable to provide these as these appear in iBook Store book description. For full guidelines refer to iBooks Publisher User Guide: https://itunesconnect.apple.com/docs/iTunesConnect_PublisherUserGuide.pdf
  3. Logging into iTunes Producer
    This appears to be simple, right? Wrong, as they say appearances are deceiving. This is one step you may waste your time because it doesn't clearly states the error if your Apple ID is not setup properly to enable publishing on iBooks. To enable that see:
    Apple Forums Thread on how to enable AppleID for iTunesConnect.
    Working with iTunes - Authors & Book Publishers: Frequently Asked Questions
    So if you face issues while logging in, check if its
    • An invalid password error : Verify you have entered correct username and password.
    • Still an invalid password error: Verify that you have enabled your AppleID for iTunesConnect.
    • Note: Once you enable your id for iTunesConnect, don't forget to read and accept the agreements otherwise it still disallows login.
  4. iTunes Producer - Main Window
    Once you are logged in it will show a template chooser and the iTunes Producer window following that is self explanatory. Just enter what all metadata it asks as appropriate for your book.
  5. Uploading
    This is the step where you are notified of any errors in submission
    • ePub errors - When the ePub itself has some errors. If you didn't validate ePub, its the time to check. Fix all errors reported by ePubCheck. Usually this means you need to have the ePub regenerated.
    • Cover image error - If the cover image dimensions are smaller than minimum required.
    • ssh error - This is the most ambiguous error as it doesn't clearly indicate where the problem is.

 The first two errors are nothing to do with ePub or any data which is not compliant. Its simply a problem with iTunesProducer or Apple servers. In many queries on Apple Forums the workaround for this has been suggested by Apple tech support: In iTunes Producer preferences you may need to 
turn off Aspera or Signiant or both. Just quit and relaunch iTunes Producer after making the changes.


Congratulations!! If you have conquered all the errors, your book may have been submitted by now.


Disclaimer: Opinions expressed are solely my own and do not express the views or opinions of my employer.

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